Women’s reality in Raqqa, a quest for emancipation from the restricted traditions

Raqqa – North-Press Agency

Mustafa al-Khalil

As the Islamic State groups (ISIS) took control over the prove of Raqqa in 2014, they started to impose a set of laws specifically on women, inconsistent with the region’s customs and traditions and the clan-based culture of society.

Lina al-Saleh, from Raqqa, told North-Press about the reality of women of Raqqa under ISIS reign: “ISIS militants imposed strict rules on us, they prevented us of getting out of home to buy the most basic household items, except with the husband or muharram (a person that women are prevented to marry, according to Islamic sharia)”, Lina said.

She added: “They considered women as Awra (or pudendum, means unlawful to occur in front of men, according to Islamic sharia), incomplete in mind and religion, and they forced us to wear the niqab and cloak. Even the peasant woman was forced to wear those covers while working in the fields”.

“Customs and traditions”

The teachings of ISIS militants were not the only suffering of women in Raqqa, where tribal customs and traditions also have a role in restricting women’s rights, since ancient times.

Maryam al-Khalaf is a housewife in Raqqa, customs and traditions made her brothers deprive her of her inheritance right, denying her share of her father’s farmland.

“My brothers shared my right from the land among themselves, and I demanded it over and over again, but their argument was that taking my share of the inheritance would bring shame to them and to the tribe, while they wouldn’t mind their wives taking their shares from their parents’ land”, Maryam said while describing that as being “a great injustice”.

Marriage of “Hayyar”

Mariam al-Khalaf continued: “Previously, in the city of Raqqa, the opinion of the girl was not taken into consideration about her marriage, especially in the case of (Hayar) marriage; (the girl is forced to marry her cousin), the thing that increases cases of divorce and marital problems. This tradition is rare nowadays and it is limited only to some families”.

Al-Khalaf explained that some families were barring their daughters from education, as girls were only allowed to learn reading and writing. “In general, the role of women was completely absent in Raqqa, even though they are the ones who work in the fields, who run the house, bake, and graze and feed the cattle, as well as raising children. However it was always and still is, a shame for the man to help her with the housework, because that is a detraction of his manhood”.

Women’s Committee

The Women Committee was formed with the establishment of Civil Council of Raqqa on 18th of May 2017, and started its work within the city of Raqqa in the fall of the same year.

It consists of several sub-committees distributed among local councils and neighborhoods of the people working within the scope of the civil council of Raqqa, as women of all components of the region, Arabs, Kurds, Circassians and Turkmen work in the committee.

“We call for the emancipation of women intellectually, to carry an ideology for building the family and community, with a full respect to traditions, customs and religious culture”, said Fairouz Khalil, the chairperson of the committee.

Ms. Khalil pointed out that the committee aims to educate everyone, men and women, on the importance of the role of women in life, in addition to monitoring women’s projects and support their issues.

Regarding the reality of women in Raqqa recently, Khalil said: “Women in Raqqa today play an important role, and are beginning to understand the importance of this role. They have a strong presence in all institutions and civil society organizations, not to forget that they have fought alongside men against the terrorist group of ISIS, as the area was liberated because of the sacrifices made by both, men and women”.

According to the chairperson, “the reason behind the failure of political projects and military factions in Syria, is due to the absence of the effective role of women and limiting their role in construction and development of community”.

Regarding the acceptance of the idea of ​​women’s emancipation, Khalil said: “Many Western delegations, when visiting the regions of northeastern Syria, in order to learn about the experiment of women, admit that women here are more powerful than the ones of their countries, despite the development in those countries”.

She explained why these delegations admire the experience of women in northeastern Syria as saying: “There, women are free in their dress and behavior, but here; they are liberated mentally and intellectually, and have proven themselves with their merit and will”.

An encouraging husband

Another woman, Basma Ismail who works with Women Committee explained that her husband’s and her son’s encouragement was one of the reasons she had joined the committee: “This encouragement was a positive motivation for me, otherwise, you wouldn’t have found me here today”, shesaid.

According to Basma, the reality of women in Raqqa has changed by 80 percent, compared to the days of ISIS, pointing out that there are still some families with an old opinions regarding women’s work, “and this stems from customs and traditions”, according to Basma.

Figures of the tribes

A forum of tribes’ female figures was recently held in Ja’abar Citadel nearby the city of Raqqa, Ms. Hanadi al-Rakan (wife of Sheikh Muhammad al-Turki) from al-Akbarchi village, described the meeting as successful and has achieved what it was intended for, where it was “a good opportunity to meet other tribes figures, daughters, wives and tribal elders throughout the northeastern regions of Syria”.

“Although we know each other beforehand, we have family visits, ties and intermarriages, but at this forum, we have discussed the problems of farmer women, and what they are experiencing and suffering, in addition, we demanded to further activate their role, as we were responded by concerned authorities”.

The Democratic Civil Administration of North-East Syria attaches importance to the role of women in the society, and seeks through a special system for women, including offices and committees distributed in all areas of the Administration, and holds several women’s activities periodically, to emphasize the importance of women’s full enjoyment of their rights.